Epidemiology and Risk Factors

This page does not focus on clinically asymptomatic inflammation of the prostate, which is also referred to as histological or type IV prostatitis. It does focus on clinically symptomatic acute and chronic prostatitis.

Overall, since the published epidemiological data have relied upon varying definitions and measures, no simple summation is possible. Instead, here are some pertinent research findings as aggregated from a number of sources:

The incidence of benign prostate enlargement (BPH) and prostate cancer increases with age, which is the most important risk factors for both. By contrast, prostatitis affects men of all ages.

Factors that have been observed to be associated with the symptoms of prostatitis include the following list. These factors are not necessarily causes of prostatitis. The data in regards to some of these factors are not necessarily strong. In some cases they are contradictory. There is no single dominant candidate risk factor for prostatitis, other than bacteria, which are required for bacterial forms of prostatitis.

While the prevalence of prostatitis has not been uniformly measured across geographic regions, it does appear that prostatitis is a global problem. Prostatitis symptoms are among the most common heard in urology practices. Risk factors are not well defined and causes remain elusive.